Cut-off valve for gas-pipes.



PATENTED'JUNE 21, 1904,.

E. E. EATON & R. A. PAY. OUT-OFF VALVE FOR GAS PIPES.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 7 1904.

K0 MODEL.

Zh ven fora.-

o l'torneys.

Witnesses.-

TN: uonms PETERS my. PnoIouma. WASNINGYON, D. c,

UNITED STATES Patented J'une 21, 1904;

PATENT OFFICE. I

ELMER E. EATON, OF CAMBRIDGE, AND ROY A. FAY, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

CUT-OFF VALVE FOR GAS-PIPES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 762,890, dated June 21,1904. Application filed April 7,1904. Serial No. 201,992. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern/1- Be it known that we, ELMER E. EATON, ofCambridge, in the county of Middlesex, and ROY A. FAY, of Boston, in thecounty of Suffolk, State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Cut- Off Valves for Gas-Pipe s, of which thefollowing is a specification.

Sometimes while the gas is lighted it is suddenly turned off in the mainor pipe, thereby extinguishing the light, and then suddenly turned onwhile the stop in the fixture is still open, allowing the gas to escape.the stops are accidentally opened by persons who are either careless orunfamiliar with them and the gas left escaping. Sometimes there is asudden stoppage in the mains or pipes caused by the accumulation offrost, which on melting may allow the gas to suddenly flow again.Sometimes water is formed in pipes or mains by condensation, owing tochange in temperature or by the melting of frost formations, and isforced by the pressure of gas to some point where for a time it entirelycuts off the flow of gas, and later the water may be forced stillfarther along where the gas will be allowed to suddenly flow freelyagain. The result is the escape of gas undiscovered into apartmentswhere thegashad been left burning at the fixture or in heaters.

Leakages of this character sometimes occur also in taps and branches.

The object of the present invention is to provide an automatic safetycut-off valve to prevent the escape of gas under such circumstances asabove described or whenever the gas is turned on and not lighted.

The invention will now be fully described, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, and the novel features thereof will beparticularly pointed out in the claims at the close of thespecification.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a vertical section of a device embodyingthe invention, showing the position of the parts when the valve has beenopened to allow the gas to pass through to the burner. Fig. 2 is asection on the same line as Fig. 1, showing the position of the partswhen the valve has become closed.

Sometimes,

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken at right angles to that of Figs. 1 and2 looking at the valve from the right-hand side of Fig. 1 and showingthe hand-lever in engagement with the valve-lever.

The shell or case 1 is chambered to receive the working parts of thevalve and allow them to move freely and is formed with openingsexterior, to permit the burner to be screwed onto it.

The base of the shell is formed with an inclined flange or wall 7projecting is also formed with a tubular boss 5, having a passage-way 6leading out of-the chamber, and is screw-threaded, preferablyon theinwardly and upwardly, forming a turn in the This wall extends crosswiseof the Projecting laterally inadjacent inner ends of the flanges 7 and 8are,

beveled concave to form amt 9 for the conevalve 10. The stem of valvelOis pivoted at" 11 to a lever 12, so as to allow a swinging movement tothe valve in order to insure a perfect adjustment of the valve to itsseat. Lever 12 is pivoted by means of a pintle 13, which preferably hasneedle-point bearings to avoid friction. One end of the pintle isjournaled in one of the side walls of theshell,

and the other end is journaled in an ad justable screw 14. The pivot orfulcrum of the lever 12 is below the center of gravity, so that when thelever is tipped, as shown in Fig. 2, and the valve is closed theoverweight of the upper portion will hold the lever in the inclinedposition and the valve closed until positively opened again in some way.Preferably the upper portion of the lever 12 is enlarged, forming a head12, or otherwise weighted to hold the lever in its inclined position.The overweight of the upper end should, however, be so proportioned thatafter the valve has been opened and the gas is turned on the normalpressure of the gas will be sufiicient to maintain the valve open.Passing through the side of the shell is a bent lever 15, having an arm15, which is adapted to engage the lever 12 and turn it up again intothe position shown in Fig. l for opening the valve. The lever passesthrough a stuflingbox 16 in the side of the shell and is operated by ahand-wheel 17. A spring 18 pushes the lever 15 back again into theposition shown in Fig. 1, when the hand-wheel is released. Extendinginwardly from the wall of the shell above the flange 8 is aduct 19 for aball or roller 20. The bottom 19 of this duct 19 is formed with a gentleincline, and the inner ,end 19 is beveled. The weight of the ball 20 isnot so great but that the normal pressure of the gas when turned on willbe suflicient to retain the ball in the upper end of the duct. When theflow of gas is stopped for any reason and the pressure on the ball isthereby released, the ball will roll down the inclined bottom 19' of theduct and engage the weighted end of lever 12, turning thelever 12 on itspivot into the position shown in Fig. 2 and closing the valve. The ballis so proportioned to the space between the end of the duct 19'and thelever 12 that it will drop slightly and wedge between the inclined endof the duct and the lever 12, thus holding the valve closed. Now whenthe gas is turned on again or the obstruction removed the pressure willnot be sufiicient to turn the lever 12 against the wedging of the ball,but it' may easily be turned by means of the handwheel 17 Across thepassage 4 will preferably be a wire-gauze screen to obstruct passage ofparticles that are liable to be forced along in the pipe, so that theymay not be lodged in the working parts of the valve.

When the lever 12 is turned by means of the hand-wheel 17 so as to takethe position shown in Fig. 1, the cone-valve 10 is drawn from its seat9, and at the same time the lever 12 also forces the ball 20 up over thebeveled end 19 of the duct 19 onto the bottom 19 of the duct. The lever12 and cone-valve 10 are then in the position shown in Fig. 1, allowingthe gas to flow through the shell 1. Ball 20 is then carried along thebottom 19 to the position shown in Fig. 1 and is maintained in thatposition until the flow of gas ceases or is greatly diminished. When thepressure of gas ceases or is greatly diminished, the ball'20 rolls alongdown the bottom 19 and engages the head of lever 12 and by pressurecauses the cone-valve 10 to move forward onto the seat 9, as shown inFig. 2, thus preventing any subsequent flow of gas into the shell 1until the valve 10 is again opened by means of the hand-wheel 17 What weclaim is 1. An automatic safety-stop to prevent the escape of gasconsisting of a case having a passage-way therethrough, a valve havingaseat in said passage-way and closing the passage when on its seat, alever which is connected with said valve and which is fulcrumedintermediate its ends, a gravity member which is normally held out ofengagement with said lever by the pressure of the gas, and which whenthe flow of gas is stopped moves into engagement with said lever andturns it on its fulcrum and seats the valve, and hand-operated means formoving the valve to open the passage-way, substantially as described.

2. An automatic safety-stop to prevent the escape of gas consisting of acase having a passage-way therethrough, a valve having a seat in saidpassage-way and closing the passage when on its seat, a lever which ispivotally connected at one end to said valve and which is fulcr umedintermediate its ends, a roller and an inclined seat therefor, saidroller being held back on its seat by the pressure of the gas when thevalve is open and the gas flowing,

and rolling down into engagement with said 5 valve-lever and closing thevalve when the flow of gas is stopped, and hand-operated means formoving the lever to open the valve, substantially as described.

3. An automatic safety-stop to prevent the escape of gas consisting of acase having a passage-way therethrough, an inlet at one end and anoutlet at the other end, the inlet end being constructed for attachmentto a gas-pipe and the outlet end being constructed to receive a pipe orburner, a valve having a lateral movement and having a seat in saidpassageway, an upright lever which is pivotally connected at one end tosaid valve and which is fulcrumed intermediate its ends below the centerof gravity, a roller and an inclined seat therefor, saidroller beingheld back on its seat by the pressure of the gas whenthe valve is openand the gas flowing, the inclined seat being so located that when theflow of gas into the inlet end of the case is cut off, the roller willroll down into engagement with the upper arm of the valve-lever and turnthe lever to close the valve, and a wedging-space for said rollerbetween its seat and the said valve-lever, substantially as described.

4:. An automatic safety-stop to prevent the and a spring which turnssaid hand-lever in the reverse direction when it is released,substantially as described.

In testimony whereof we have afiixed our I 5- signatures in presence oftwo witnesses.

ELMER E. EATON. ROY A. FAY.

Witnesses:

FRED A. FERNALD, WILLIAM A. COPELAND.

